Your Veteran Scribe spent two days (just over six hours each day) at Big 12 media days to start the week. YVS has been to dozens of these ganged-up mosh pits disguised as interview sessions. Rarely do these opportunities reveal much but there is reinforcement to an obvious epiphany: Most college football coaches are unaware…

FRISCO, Texas – The last two years at Big 12 football media days, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy was a topic of conversation because of his mullet, which remains in full flow. But Tuesday, Gundy’s hairstyle was totally outpaced and overshadowed by the long locks of Breckyn Hager and Patrick Vahe. Big brand Texas is…

FRISCO, Texas – Lincoln Riley is going into his fourth season at Oklahoma, but he’s only been the head coach for 13 months. In his first season, he guided the Sooners to their third consecutive Big 12 title and a spot in the College Football Playoff. He was the fifth of five coaches to take…

When the clock struck 0:00 in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3, 2008, it also struck midnight on Kansas football playing Cinderella. The Jayhawks’ 24-21 victory over No. 5 Virginia Tech completed a 12-1 season. It was the high point in the program’s history. There was no place to go but down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1JsQiaXhI&t=70s Over the…

Aristotle is known as a philosopher, but he also dabbled in science. One of his oft-quoted theories was postulated as “horror vacui.” That translates to “nature abhors a vacuum.” In other words, where there’s an empty space, nature strives to fill it. Thankfully for all of us who like to postulate about college football, the…

In “Animal House,” one of America’s greatest fictional heroes bemoans the news that his fraternity has been shut down. Wearing a “College” sweatshirt, Bluto (John Belushi) sums up his situation thusly: “Christ. Seven years of college down the drain.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjIH1jdx2_A To paraphrase the future (fictional) Senator Blutarski, the Commission on College Basketball was seven months…

SAN ANTONIO – For those of you who don’t know – and only if you’re a citizen of one our smallest states would you – Villanova’s second national championship in three years came courtesy of the “Michael Jordan of Delaware.” And know this: Michael Jordan, in his one shining moment in 1982, did not have…

SAN ANTONIO – We have seen the future because it’s already here. Blame or credit the NBA styles used by Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors and Mike Dantoni of the Houston Rockets but college basketball’s current hot trend involves having at least four – preferably five – players on the court who can…

SAN ANTONIO – Dreams die hard at this point of the season. Reaching the Final Four semifinals is the goal of 351 Division I teams because achieving that goal leads to Monday night and the possibility of winning a national championship. But only one team can achieve that dream. The emotional rush of winning four…

SAN ANTONIO – Near the end of the media’s incursion during the 35-minute open locker room session, an assistant coach reminded Villanova’s players that it was time to take the court for Friday’s Final Four practice. “Turn off the phones, get focused. Time to get connected to each other.” Connectivity is a major component in…

SAN ANTONIO – NCAA president Mark Emmert artfully and cleverly tap danced over and around the landmines that have been exploding around college basketball. Emmert, who earns nearly $2 million in compensation, held his annual “state of the union Q and A Thursday. He bobbed and weaved like Ali trapped in a corner. Nothing substantive…

Leading a double-digit seed to a Final Four berth fits Porter Moser’s career path. Loyola (Chicago) has become the talk of the NCAA Tournament and made Sister Jean the reboot of the Flying Nun. The Ramblers, like most successful teams, take on the personality of their coach. Loyola, the No. 11 seed and winner of…

Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson has known Bill Self since 1982. Their friendship could call into question the objectivity of the following statement. “I can unequivocally say without hesitation or reservation (this season is) the best coaching job he's done in his career,” Hinson told The Oklahoman columnist Jenni Carlson this week. Best friends or…

Two days after the Final Four teams were decided and four days before they play the semifinals in San Antonio, the Associated Press announced its All-America team for 2017-18. For the first time in its 70-year history, three freshmen made the first team: Oklahoma’s Trae Young, Arizona’s Deandre Ayton and Duke’s Marvin Bagley III. All…